A packet of cigarettes normally comprises an inner package defined by a group of cigarettes wrapped in a sheet of inner packing material; and an outer package enclosing the inner package, and which may be defined by a sheet of outer packing material folded cup-shaped about the inner package (soft packet of cigarettes), or by a rigid, hinged-lid box formed by folding a rigid blank about the inner package (rigid packet of cigarettes).
A packet of cigarettes may also contain an insert located inside the inner package (typically a protecting member or a collar) or between the inner package and the outer package (typically a collar and/or a coupon).
Supplying the insert is a complicated job, on account of it having to be placed and kept in a precise position on the group of cigarettes (on top of or underneath the sheet of inner packing material) without being glued to the group of cigarettes; and the position of the insert is not stabilized until the outer package (insert located between the inner and outer package) or the sheet of inner packing material (insert located inside the inner package) is folded.
Supplying an insert for insertion inside the inner package, i.e. directly contacting the group of cigarettes, is particularly complicated, on account of the group of cigarettes being unstable in shape and failing to provide an even supporting surface.
Insert supply is also particularly complicated when inserting it between the inner and outer package of a rigid packet of cigarettes having a non-parallelepiped-shaped (e.g. oval or triangular) cross section and formed from a horizontal blank (i.e. in which the panels forming the lateral walls of the packet are connected directly to one another at the longitudinal edges) as opposed to a conventional vertical blank (i.e. in which the panels forming the lateral walls of the packet are not connected to one another directly).